BEAUFORT'S BEST- Beaufort, NC

Beaufort is a Winner!!!

2012-02-01T15:13:00.000-05:00

You are cordially invited to attend a celebration!!
(In the end, Budget Travel called it a tie with Hammondsport, NY,
so both towns now have bragging rights.)

Beaufort Town Hall (Old Post Office)
701 Front Street
Friday, February 3, 2012 - 4:00 P.M.

Thanks to everyone for their support!!!
___________________

Enjoy the new Beaufort album below!!

Click the red-bus image to view a NEW 133-photo "Beaufort Snapshots"Album
or View as a Banner with Captions

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR TOWN - Click Links Below

2011-02-06T09:24:00.013-05:00

FORT MACON, RACHEL CARSON, OLD BURYING GROUNDS, RESIDENT PIRATE, CAPE LOOKOUT, RESTORATION GROUND, and MARITIME MUSEUM

2011-02-06T08:52:00.017-05:00

FORT MACON

During the 18th and 19th centuries the area around Beaufort and Beaufort Inlet was highly vulnerable to attack. The construction of Fort Dobbs was begun in 1756 during the French and Indian War, but when the war ended the fort was never completed. Early in the 1800s a small masonry fort was built that guarded the inlet during the War of 1812. Shoreline erosion and a hurricane had swept Fort Hampton into Beaufort Inlet by 1825.

The War of 1812 demonstrated the weakness of existing coastal defenses. The United States government began construction on an improved chain of coastal fortifications. This undertaking involved the construction of thirty-eight new, permanent coastal forts known as the Third System. As part of this system, pentagon-shaped 26-casemate Fort Macon, with a ditch separating its covertway and inner citadel, was designed by Brigadier General Simon Bernard and built by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The fort was named for native North Carolinian Nathaniel Macon (1758–1837), who served in the Revolutionary War and as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, until he returned to his home state and served in the state senate. Construction began in 1826. Using brick made in the area and masons from Beaufort and other parts of the country, the US Army Corps of Engineers completed the fort in December, 1834. Total cost of the fort was $463,790. MORE...

RACHEL CARSON Estuary Reserve - Over 2000 Acres

2011-02-06T08:44:00.007-05:00

Rachel Carson Estuary Reserve, part of Carolina Estuarine Reserve Foundation, is located near the mouth of the Newport River in southern Carteret County, directly across Taylor's Creek from the historic town of Beaufort. This site is a complex of islands: Carrot Island, Town Marsh, Bird Shoal, and Horse Island. These islands are more than three miles long and less than a mile wide, covering 2,025 acres.

Monitoring Feral Horses

The islands and estuarine waters at the Rachel Carson site are strongly influenced by river and inlet dynamics and the twice-daily tides. Habitats found within the site include tidal flats, flooded salt marshes, ocean beach, subtidal soft bottoms, hard surfaces, dredge spoil areas, sand dunes, shrub thicket, and maritime forest. More than 200 species of birds have been observed at the site, which is located within the Atlantic Flyway. Twenty-three species are considered rare or decreasing in number. The site is an important feeding area for Wilson’s plovers in the summer and piping plovers in the winter. The shrub thicket of Middle Marsh supports an egret and heron rookery. In addition to feral horses, the river otter, gray fox, raccoon, and marsh rabbit inhabit the islands. The atlantic bottlenose dolphin swims in the deeper waters around the islands, along with 52 species of fish. See Rachel Carson - An Overview.

OLD BURYING GROUND

2008-02-24T12:26:00.039-05:00

Beaufort, NC’s Old Burying Ground is a beautiful fascinating place. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the cemetery was deeded to the town in 1731 by Nathaniel Taylor, 4^th owner of the town, from 1725-1733.

The Beaufort Historical Association provides a self-guided brochure, which highlights several of the notable gravesites within the Old Burying Ground. With over 200 headstones pre-dating the Civil War, 45 from the Civil War period, and 150 from 1865-1890 and a few from the early 1900s, the Old Burying Ground is a must see in Beaufort.

RESIDENT PIRATE

2008-01-14T08:57:00.020-05:00

Captain Horatio Sinbad - Pirate in Residence

Captain Sinbad, a real merchant adventurer, has lived continuously aboard the Meka II for over FOUR decades making Beaufort, NC his home port. If you are in Beaufort, look for the Meka II anchored in Town Creek, seen to your left as you cross the bridge into town. He does, occasionally, take the adventurous aboard ship for "Two Hours Before the Mast". But, then again, you might not find him in port - another adventure always awaits just over the horizon.

CAPE LOOKOUT - A Ferry-ride Away

2007-12-27T06:47:00.013-05:00

Painting by Florida Artist - Roger Bansemer

See Cape Lookout & The Fulford Keepers

Originally built in 1812 and rebuilt in 1859, the 163 foot red brick lighthouse can be seen from 19 miles away. In 1873, the keeper's cottage - large enough to house two keepers and their families - was completed, and the tower painted. Because the four lights on the Outer Banks were so similar, the Lighthouse Board designed striking patterns for each to make them easily distinguishable. On April 14, 1873, Cape Lookout Lighthouse was painted with large checkers that appear as alternating black and white diamonds. Following the traditional day-mark aids to navigation, the black checkers are oriented north and south toward the shallow waters of the shoals and around the headlands, while the white checkers are oriented east and west facing the deeper waters.

BEAUFORT RESTORATION GROUNDS

2007-10-11T18:22:00.034-04:00

In 1960 a few local citizens formed the Beaufort Historical Association, not only to help celebrate the town's 250th birthday, but also to initiate plans and guidelines to preserve the aging, but historically important structures in town. After property was purchased, houses and historic buildings were acquired and moved to the site.

Volunteers in period dress provide tours for three of the buildings on the site. The BHA's red English bus also provides tours of the historic district. Beaufort Historic Site

BEAUFORT NC MARITIME MUSEUM & FRIENDS

2007-10-08T09:54:00.056-04:00

The "Friends" work with the museum by underwriting new projects, purchasing equipment, funding educational and public awareness programs and acquiring land and facilities needed for expansion.

Their combined effort offers programs such as Build a Boat in a Day, Sailing Programs, Beaufort Oars, Junior Sailing, Sea Scouts, Summer Science School and much much more.

The “Gallants Channel Annex” will provide new and exciting ways for the public and scholars to experience maritime history.

North Carolina Maritime Museum